Reports from G.E. Nordell, author & philosopher & revolutionary, living a quiet life at his mesa-top home in New Mexico. Topics to be covered include economics, politics, cinema, local culture (rural & urban), and the adventures of a sometimes-grumpy hermit deep in The Land of Enchantment . . .

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Economic Tsunami

"We face a demographic tsunami" that "will never recede," [the comptroller general of the United States] David Walker tells a group of reporters. He runs through a long list of fiscal challenges...

To hear Walker, the nation's top auditor, tell it, the United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire. Its financial condition is "worse than advertised," he says. It has a "broken business model." It faces deficits in its budget, its balance of payments, its savings — and its leadership.

Without major spending cuts, tax increases or both, the national debt will grow more than $3 trillion through 2010, to $11.2 trillion — nearly $38,000 for every man, woman and child. The interest alone would cost $561 billion in 2010, the same as the Pentagon [budget].